chitty chitty bang bang, and just like that we were teleported into new orleans for jazz fest, and it was on...
some maniacal logistics had the core of our krewe arriving thursday morning at 8am with the intention of heading right to the fairgrounds to catch the day's shows.
and everything went according to plan... except for the fact that there were no shows on thursday this year.
ah ha, a step ahead of everyone, and a day behind the rest.
but details aint nothin' but a thing in the Big Easy, and so we hit the quarter, grabbed some hurricanes and went wherever the day did take us.
this led to that and eventually we made it to the house of blues for some jammin reggae by toots and the maytals [VIDEO].
then we caught the warriors thrashing of dallas and topped the day off with a twelve-pack of krystal burgers.
yup, out of the gates strong.
friday began in the traditional sense. we hit the fairgrounds, set up the bojon camp and took in some music, starting with a killer set by the benjy davis project [VIDEO] at the gentilly stage.
but just as johnny sketch and the dirty notes came on stage, the day got... well, "sketchy."
the skies opened, and it began to rain. biblical style. thunder, lightning and high winds reminiscent of the great mahwah monsoon.
our merry band of pranksters dispersed throughout the fairgrounds, taking up shelter in the misting tent, the stables, and even the porta potties.
but then we got the call on the yam radio to congregate under the grandstand, and that we did.
you couldn't plan a party like this because no one would come. but since everybody was already there, it became a shindig for the ages.
not sure if we were under the grandstand for one hour or four, but by the time the rain subsided it didn't really matter.
and then we went back to our camp to assess the situation...
still standing... but submerged.
backpacks floating, tapestries missing, electornics short-circuited, but flag still flying.
and so we settled back in.
and when the MC came on stage to declare they were starting things back up "because we don't know how not to do this," we were right there with him.
that's right, my friends, bring on ZZ Top [VIDEO].
and, playing like a team possessed, lontz feeds bh for the slam...
uh, where to go from here?
why, to the republic for a night cap with ozomatli...
back at it again on saturday, this time with some sunshine.
and all sorts of stars aligned on this particular saturday. not only the fest, but also the kentucky derby, cinco de mayo, and de la hoya-merryweather.
but our focus was at the fairgrounds, and a steady dose of some killer music and kind buds kept us in grand spirits.
on the main stage, buckwheat zydeco led into galactic followed by john mayer [VIDEO], but there was geat music everywhere, from stephen marley to cowboy mouth to the allman brothers. and more.
and it was great to see the totems out in force...
as well as the next generation...
and, for the record, the jam of the day on the acura stage had to go to john mayer and galactic when the two joined forces to absolutely rip through an epic instrumental renditionon of led zeppelin's "Immigrant Song" [AUDIO].
whew... toss in a pigrimage to the shell fest, a trip to harrah's for the fight, and a late night romp through the french quarter, and we about rode this bull to the bell.
and when the street cleaners rolled, so finally did we.
over and out on sunday, but aready looking forward to our return.
fare thee well, mighty jazz fest, until we meet again...
